day 43: 太谷 (taigu) – 东观 (dongguan) = 24,3

A bowl of fried rice in 山西农业大学 (Agricultural University of Shanxi):

Someone had told me they had some foreign exchange students there, so I went.

I gotta admit it: I would have really liked to see a pair of eyes that looked like mine for a change.

But no foreigners were to be found.

However, I had some fun with the local kids:

At first I was amused by their artworks, because they reminded me of some kind of propaganda posters.

- At first they were amused by my looks, because I reminded them of – a foreigner.

Then I found out that this wasn’t about socialist propaganda but about some kind of student debate show they had going on.

- Then they found out that the funny-looking foreigner could speak Chinese:

I had a fun time.

- They had a fun time.

Then I took off, because I wanted to check out the White Pagoda (白塔):

A magnificent structure.

I got into a little argument with the management though, because they had previously decided to close up the whole place for lunch (until 2:30) and have a bunch of super-aggressive dogs roam about the area instead. I told them that I could help them get rid of their dog problem, and that I would love to treat them to a meal of dog hotpot if they were at all interested.

They said maybe next time.

Raised eyebrows.

Then I climbed up the tower:

Once again: pagodas are just not that much fun at the top. But you never know until you’ve been up each and every one I guess.

I liked the fat Buddha they had on the ground floor though:

Looks like he’s high on something, eh?

By the way, I spent too much time in 太谷 today – there was just too much to look at.

Next place I went to was 孔祥熙宅院 (the courtyard residence of kong xiangxi, a descendent of Confucius and important public figure in 19th and 20th century China):

The guy in the picture is a soldier that was also visiting the museum. He saw me messing around with my tripod and decided to stand in my frame and watch. That’s how he got onto the photograph – and I decided I liked it that way.

A couple of other visitors seemed to have found the recipe for a happy afternoon though: good friends + the strong smell of Chinese rice wine + some standard bricks:

Bricks?

At first I thought: drunken fools, foolish drunks… but then I saw those guys really SMASH the bricks with their bare hands, all the while laughing their heads off and patting each other on the back, shouting “ka-pow!!!”

Cool dudes.

I didn’t test my skills on the bricks. Instead I walked over to the old Drum Tower (鼓楼) and shot a picture that’s supposed to illustrate how to rent a room:

The paper on the left is a note about a certain apartment that is free for rent. The person standing in the background on the right is apparently the landlord or an agent. Now as soon as someone goes over to look at the note, the landlord/agent will come walking over and try to land a deal.

At the time I noticed this, I could have really used a room for myself, but I still had to walk for another three hours…

I walked next to the highway until it was dark, and then I kept walking for a little while longer.

Now I’m in a hotel room that smells bad. I mean it’s clean and all, but there is this terrible stench.

I think it’s the sink.

I’m getting a headache.

Poor me.

Soundtrack: Bad Religion – “Fertile Crescent”

—total: 680,3km